209: Tyneka Pack
Physical and mental wellness are deeply connected, but for many women, especially women in leadership, the path to true well‑being is blocked by burnout, stress, and the pressure to constantly “keep going.” In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, we explore what it really takes to build a sustainable, healthy life with Impact Fitness founder and CEO Tyneka Pack.
Tyneka has built a career helping women reclaim their confidence, energy, and balance through movement. Her own journey, from a shy, quiet young woman to a nationally recognized fitness leader, revealed the transformative power of fitness not just for the body, but for identity, leadership, and self‑worth. After experiencing burnout herself, she expanded her mission to include holistic wellness, rest, and boundaries as essential tools for thriving.
Today, Tyneka works with individuals, companies, and communities to close the wellness gaps that often go unaddressed. She breaks down the early signs of stress, the myths that keep people stuck in unhealthy fitness cycles, and the cultural expectations that push women to overwork at the expense of their health. Through workshops, corporate wellness programs, and her leadership in the Earn Your Leisure community, she’s helping people understand that you cannot carry out the vision if the vessel is depleted.
In this conversation, Tyneka joins Movement Is Life’s Desiree Clemons to discuss what it means to build cultures of wellness, how organizations can support their teams as whole humans, and why taking imperfect action is the key to lasting change. She also shares practical wellness KPIs—simple, accessible steps anyone can use to improve their physical, mental, and nutritional health.
The transcript from today’s episode has been lightly edited for clarity.
Tyneka Pack
You cannot carry out the vision if the vessel is depleted. Yes. So it doesn’t matter what your vision is, whether it is to build a business, whether it’s to scale your business, whether it is to anything, build a family, be financially free. It doesn’t matter what the vision is. None of it is going to happen if the vessel you are depleted. So you have to make sure that no matter what above any and everything else that you are pouring into yourself, you are taking care of yourself first, because nothing happens if this doesn’t happen, and this isn’t good, because this is a direct representation of that vision that you’re looking to build.
Desiree Clemons
You’re listening to the health disparities podcast from movement is life. I’m Desiree Clements, Director of Strategy and organizational impact, and I’m excited to be joined by Tamika pack. Tanika is the founder and CEO of Impact fitness. She has been featured in women’s health magazine, Yahoo life and on Fox 45 Baltimore. She’s built a career helping women, especially those in leadership, reclaim their health, confidence and balance through fitness. She also led the 2025 moment is life health summit through an unforgettable movement session. Tanika, I know you remember the green
Tyneka Pack
you know what? I was so excited when they’re like, when they were like, Oh, we’re getting bands. Can you incorporate that? Yes, I can. I’m so excited, and
Desiree Clemons
so was everybody else. They were great. They the green bands are down, and taimeka joins us to talk about the intersection of fitness leadership and health equity and how organizations can build cultures of wellness. Taika, welcome to the health disparities podcast,
Tyneka Pack
Thank you. I’m so excited.
Desiree Clemons
Thank you for joining us. Tamika, to start us off. Can you start by sharing what inspired you to dedicate your work to health equity and community wellness?
Tyneka Pack
What inspired me. Imma try to give you the shorter version. We’ll have the short version. It just came from my personal experience when I discovered fitness before, let’s let’s go before. So before I even discovered fitness, I used to be a super shy, super quiet individual, like you wouldn’t you would never catch me doing anything like this. You would never catch me close to Mike, not even on a stage, but just from fitness and competing and like bodybuilding competitions, like my confidence, just in life in general, did a complete 180 just throughout my whole fitness journey. So initially, I started this to give others that same experience, that same transformative power that fitness has to transform your confidence and how you kind of show up in life. But then on top of that, years later, it also adjusted, because I experienced burnout as well. So that’s where my other aspects of wellness started, you know, compiling into the work that I do. So it started for one reason, but now it’s like a holistic to be able to give that experience, and, you know, give the tools to the community
Desiree Clemons
exactly like you would never know. That’s how you started. By the way you were on stage so enthusiastic and just like full of life and energy. So, I mean, wow. And I mean, going into our next question. You said fitness helps you overcome burnout and build confidence. How did that personal transition shape your mission?
Tyneka Pack
Shape my mission? So one of the things, especially, you know, dealing with women, and especially women in leadership, we are always seen to go, go, go and do, do, do like we’re always doing and doing and doing instead of being and being and being and resting. So just with me experiencing that burnout to the point where my clients actually sent me home like they sent me home and told me not to come back until the following week to have that happen, I started to build boundaries within my business and personal life to make sure that I don’t experience the burnout again. So those principles I instill in my clients and the programming and talks and things that I do that rest is important. Um. Um, it’s important. And I think a lot of people see rest as a stop versus resting as a pause. So my goal is to try to change that narrative, because it is needed. No matter what we are pausing from. We have to pause in order to excel and
Desiree Clemons
move forward. Rest is so important, and it’s always overlooked of how all the things that we, especially as women, have to do. And so shifting over to being able to rest, and then shifting over to leadership, you focus on women in leadership, where burnout and stress often go unaddressed. What gaps Do you see and how is it impact fitness, helping fill them.
Tyneka Pack
What gaps do I see? Girl, where is my list? Let –
Desiree Clemons
me pull that up.
Tyneka Pack
Yes, um, first I would say that the gaps is just recognizing the signs of burnout, and not even just burnout, but like, stress. One gap is, I people think that burnout happens overnight, like, Oh, I’m burned out. Like, girl, you knew you were getting to that point beforehand. It’s just the signs you didn’t recognize it as your progression to burnout. So like, you have to experience stress before you experience chronic stress before you experience burnout. So when they say there’s levels to levels to this, like there’s truly levels to this, right is not recognizing those signs of stress. So that tension and stuff that you’re getting here, that stress, the constant headaches, that stress, when we start migrating to the burnout. That’s where we’re starting to feel disassociated with our work, or just going and trying to over achieve and overwork. That’s also where we are constantly sick, right? Like our body and things will tell us and give us the signs, but it’s just knowing what they are and knowing how to manage those things, I would say that is the biggest gap is the lack of knowledge of those signs, right?
Desiree Clemons
And if you know the signs, are you listening to the signs? Right? Yes, you mentioned. Yeah. So you also partner with companies and organizations to create cultures of health. What does that look like in practice?
Tyneka Pack
Good question. So there’s a few different ways that we that we do that we do that. So just to give you an example, a recent nonprofit that we worked with, we did a wellness day for their staff, where we did from a holistic standpoint. So we had me and my team, so one kind of talking about the benefits of physical health and how we can still incorporate those things, even in a busy work schedule. We talked about the power of proper nutrition and how that correlates to your energy levels, which correlates to your productivity. And then we also touched on, like the mental health side. So we did a breath work, active yoga, stretching and mobility and meditation. So we kind of talk touched on all four as all three of those aspects, again, to equip folks with the knowledge about those things and how to incorporate those and we actually put it into action some way, shape or form. So we’ve done that. But between, you know, team building activities like that, workshops, or even just movement segments, it could look different for, you know, each company, but being able to address specifically what that company needs, whether it’s more movement, whether it’s more workshop and application, definitely.
Desiree Clemons
So I mean, even just the reminder at the summit, you know, to have that movement break was so helpful, because, like, oh yeah, I can do these things while I’m sitting at my desk and or if I feel the tension here, I can do these things as well. So sharing the knowledge is definitely helpful. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Can you share more about your collaboration with earn your leisure and what that partnership means for your work,
Tyneka Pack
earn your leisure. So really quick, just for those who are not familiar, earn your leisure is a platform. Is a business. It’s a whole entire movement that talks about financial literacy and business entrepreneurship on like, a big scale. So I actually joined their their community back in 2021 and inside of their community have different clubs, and I am the Health and Wellness club leader. So one, it means a lot to me, because I, you know, was pondering how. Else can I use my gifts to serve in the community? Yes, I love my work and what I do as my business, but like, outside of that, like, how can I steward my gifts and my knowledge? Like, I love to teach, I love to talk. Now, you know I wasn’t, I wasn’t like that before, my girl, don’t give me no mic. Okay, don’t give me the mic, that’s a testimony. But, you know, they gave me a mic and a platform, so I’m able to teach the community all about health, wellness. How does that correlate with their business? How does that correlate with, you know, their financial goals, like health is truly wealth and being able to bridge that gap inside that community has been the world to me, and I’ve also been able to create my own little family inside so, like friends that now have turned into family just from being in that community and being able to give back in that way.
Desiree Clemons
So really quick, if they want to get involved in Earn Your Leisure. How do they? Tyneka Pack
they go to eyl university.com, and they’ll be able to get in, get in there. Starting your business is never easy. You mentioned that early on. You neglect the rest of point where clients maybe sent you home. What did that teach you about boundaries and sustainability? Good. Thank you. So like you can’t move forward without recharging. And I also notice I’m an introvert, believe it or not, I don’t believe that, I know, but I’m extroverted in moments that I have to be. Yes, um, so boundaries for me in business was important because social interactions and social gatherings, big events, they drain me.
Desiree Clemons
Yes, a lot. Mm, hmm.
Tyneka Pack
And to the point where I remember attending this, this one event, it was just a couple of hours, but I needed, like, two days to recoup from just being social, so being mindful of that, but also incorporating those boundaries, because I know, like, things I need to do in business, and I can’t do that unless I’m rested right. Resting comes with those boundaries, and then just in business in general, like when you’re trying to make decisions for your business and work on projects like you have to make that from a mindset of clarity. You can’t make decisions from mindset of clarity if you’re not rested right. So incorporating those boundaries allowed me to rest more right. Allowed me to rest more, which, in turn, I’m able to pour back into my business and show up as my full self, and being able to pour into my clients so they are able to get me and all of me and all of this, versus give me two more sets, right? Well, it’s just show up differently
Desiree Clemons
and then, like, the boundaries, you know, one of the things you mentioned is being able to say no and knowing that it’s okay to say no, right? I think that sometimes we’re, like, afraid of this No. How did you overcome that fear of it’s okay to say no this time?
Tyneka Pack
Yeah, I overcame it by saying more No more often. I was scared at first, like, I’m just like, oh my gosh, because I was a people pleaser, right? Again, people pleasers don’t have boundaries, so that’s kind of where that came in, all right? But being able to say no and just doing doing it more. And then I heard someone say, I don’t remember, so I can’t quote, but someone said to me, the people who get mad at your nose are the people that were benefiting from you not having boundaries. Yes. So, yes, okay, yes, yes. But also realizing how the the more I said no was, the more I was telling myself, in my mental capacity, yes, right? So just changing my mindset around the word no, and now I don’t mind saying no, even when it comes to just going out somewhere, like, yeah, I want to be invited, but I actually might say no. I think that’s also a Taurus thing, but I don’t know that might be a Taurus thing, but no has to be in your vocabulary, and heavy in your vocabulary,
Desiree Clemons
and being okay with saying No, and it’s fine, we’ll you’ll see
Tyneka Pack
it through. Yeah, no and period, there’s no and no but no. Com no period, exactly.
Desiree Clemons
You don’t have to explain. You don’t have to explain what you’re so used to doing, it’s always feeling like we need an explanation. And I think that just contributes more to the burnout, as you mentioned. So in your coaching, you often encounter myths about fitness. Could you walk? Us through a few of the most common misconceptions. There’s so many out there. Soon as you get on social media, it’s like, oh this, oh this myth, oh this. Where did that come from? Who said that I have a whole list of
Tyneka Pack
like, myths and content that I’m going to be creating around, or have already started creating around that. So one, the most common one, is that carbs, you know, make you gain weight, which is not a fact, eating above the calories that you’re burning is, you know, the easiest way to gain weight. Doesn’t matter if you’re eating too much protein, if you’re eating too much fats or too many carbs, anything in abundance over what you’re burning is going to make you gain weight. That’s it. Another one that I cannot stand.
Desiree Clemons
Say, give me your give me your number one. It just, it just makes your screen, your skin cringe.
Tyneka Pack
Girl, then we have to trick our muscles every week to do a whole new workout. Like, yeah, magicians, you’re not Houdini. Like, switching up your workouts is not we don’t do that. We don’t do that. You stick with the plan and you progress. Yes, stick with the same plan, and you progress doing the same workout, four, six, sometimes eight weeks, right?
Desiree Clemons
Yes, yes. Listen, I get it. My degree is in Kinesiology. I am NASM certified as a personal trainer as well, and I used to hate it was a bit crazy when people get on a barbell rack and start laying on their back and pushing it up for I’m like, why don’t you just do squats? What are we doing here?
Tyneka Pack
So then we are over complicating things, over complicating things.
Desiree Clemons
And it doesn’t have to be that difficult to get the body moving and to to be healthy. So people like you. We need out there finding these misconceptions to get people more active. Yes, I got you.
Tyneka Pack
Find me. Okay.
Desiree Clemons
So what gives you hope right now, when you look at the health and wellness landscape just as a whole,
Tyneka Pack
Oh, I feel like we as a whole, like community. I’m seeing more people starting to be more intentional about their health and wellness. I’m also seeing more like sober, curious community, right? I read somewhere else that it was on Instagram. Yep, I don’t know what page on Instagram, but that like the younger generation, they’re embracing more wellness activities. They’re embracing less like alcohol
Desiree Clemons
too, where they’re talking about mocktail introducing more mocktails and things at the bar.
Tyneka Pack
I love it, I love it, I love it. So that gives me hope that I’m starting to see those changes. And then, just from a business and Corporation standpoint, more companies actually starting to realize the importance of taking care of their employees, mental health and how that, ultimately, at the end of the day, contributes to their bottom line some way, shape or form, it contributes to their bottom line. So seeing that shift in the corporate space, but like I said, just as a community as a whole, just starting to prioritize things differently, it really gives me hope. It gives me hope.
Desiree Clemons
And then also, how does that shift that you mentioned with the comment, with the companies and everyone taking their health more seriously? Like, how does that inspire you personally?
Tyneka Pack
It inspires me personally, because I know that I’m doing work that’s needed, that people are really starting to see a need for. And I can add value some way, shape or form, I can contribute in that aspect, is what I would say. It’s inspiring
Desiree Clemons
the work. You’re doing. You can see the change right here in front of you.
Tyneka Pack
Yes, yes. So it’s like, all that I’m doing isn’t for not, if that makes sense, yeah,
Desiree Clemons
definitely, definitely. We love to see a outcome. You know, all the hard work that we’re putting in, all your time, all your dedication, all your knowledge, it’s, I mean, important to see that feedback, like, okay, whoo, this is, this is working. It’s sticking, you know, right
Tyneka Pack
for sure, and it’s just, even just from a fitness community standpoint, like, all the work that we are doing, like, it’s starting to show and that definitely inspires me, whether I am the person who, personally, you know, I. Change their mind or switch their their mindset on it, but just the community as a whole, and seeing that shift definitely.
Desiree Clemons
If you could leave one message with your listeners, funders, practitioners and community leaders, what would it
Tyneka Pack
be? So there is this quote that I have been heavy on, okay, so last couple of months, you cannot carry out the vision if the vessel is depleted.
Desiree Clemons
Mm, it one more time. Say, one more people back
Tyneka Pack
for the people for the people are back. I got you in the back not you cannot carry out the vision if the vessel is depleted. Yes. So it doesn’t matter what your vision is, whether it is to build a business, whether it’s to scale your business, whether it is to anything build a family, be financially free. It doesn’t matter what the vision is. None of it is going to happen if the vessel you are depleted. So you have to make sure that no matter what above any and everything else that you are pouring into yourself, you are taking care of yourself first, because nothing happens if this doesn’t happen, and this isn’t good, because this is a direct representation of that vision that you’re looking to build. So if you’re not, you’re not taking care of your mental health, your physical health, your nutrition, and having those meant those wellness KPIs. Mm, hmm, what are the KPIs in your actual business look like if you can’t take care of your personal you know things right for those key performance indicators, but like those things right? They they correlate so you cannot carry out the vision if the vessel is depleted, so make sure your vessel stays full. That’s my message.
Desiree Clemons
I love that one, and I’m gonna throw another one at you. Okay, take imperfection action. Don’t wait for the perfect time. It doesn’t exist.
Tyneka Pack
It don’t exist. It don’t exist. And you know what was evidence that it don’t exist is because people are still making the same resolutions every January, because they’re waiting for the perfect time, and the perfect time never happens, and they never take action, and they’re seeing the same thing every January, the first sorry, okay, but, but, like, we have to take some kind of action, and we can perfect it later. Yes, right? Even if I keep correlating it back to even just business or even just a career, if there’s a project that you’re working on or something that you’re looking to build or implement, like, do the thing first. Like, get it out first, right? You can create it first, you perfect, and we tweak as we go and as we learn. So same thing with your fitness journey. You
don’t there’s no perfect time, but you know, some action is better than none. So if you could just do a 10 minute walk after lunch each day, that’s something. Once you get that down, packed, then you can start to build on top of that, but it doesn’t have to be perfect conditions, right? If you’re used to walking outside, and, let’s say it’s raining outside, how else can you get your steps in after lunch, right? Being able to implement, improvise, or, you know, switch up what you are doing. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be something. You got to do something, right?
Desiree Clemons
So you mentioned some KPIs. What can you give us some quick KPIs for the mental, for the physical, for the like, what are some quick ones that you can think of that will help our audience?
Tyneka Pack
Oh, I got you get your notepads Ready? Ready? Okay, we’re ready. Yeah. So if we’re talking physical, how, okay, we’re going to keep it super, super simple, super simple. Okay, we’re talking physical. Are we moving our bodies every day? Now it doesn’t have to be at the gym, right? Mm, hmm. It could be a simple walk, it could be a simple chair stretch, it could be something, let’s even just say 10 minutes. Are you moving your body for 10 minutes a day? It could be five minutes before you sit at your computer. It could be five minutes when you’re done so,
Desiree Clemons
marching in place, some quick stretches, body stretches, and before you know it, it’s 10 minutes later.
Tyneka Pack
That’s it. That’s it that we over complicated all this time.
Desiree Clemons
Okay, that’s a quick that’s a quick KPI for physical with another KPI for mental, emotional.
Tyneka Pack
Um, let’s see, are you journaling like journaling is a quick one, especially if you’re having trouble like sleeping at night, like we are. Minds are always going right? And if you’re one of those people that as soon as your head hit the pillow, that’s when all the thoughts happen, how can you journal or brain dump before you go to bed? Yeah, so that you can get sleep,
Desiree Clemons
you’re always on the phone. Write a quick note. Okay, it doesn’t have to be a physical journal.
Tyneka Pack
It doesn’t. It doesn’t. And it could honestly be a voice a voice note, too. You can have a voice journal, okay, what are you doing to get, like, out your your mental thoughts and that. Or it could
even be brain dumps. Or you could be like a five minute breath routine, breathing routine, something super quick,
Desiree Clemons
Okay, last one, nutritional, KPI, real quick
Tyneka Pack
water intake. How much are you drinking today? Yup, start with
Desiree Clemons
give us what we need. Give us what we need.
Tyneka Pack
Let’s look at half your body weight in ounces. Okay, now you can gradually get up there. Now, if you’re not really drinking water at all, just start adding one bottle a day for a week. Once you get that down, add another bottle a day the second week. Okay, okay. But that hydration, how much water you’re drinking, your hydration, affects a lot of different things, your movement, your physical health, all water. Listen, that’s a whole that’s a whole another podcast.
Desiree Clemons
That’s a whole other podcast that we can talk about, but let’s make sure we’re getting our water intake. That’s it. That’s it. Listen, you have so many key things that I think that we as a general public can can gain from you. So are there any upcoming events or projects we should highlight, or know of that you have going on?
Tyneka Pack
Yes, um, well, January 10, I don’t know when it’s coming out, um, but January 10, I am having a free fitness class in partnership with Lulu Lemon, that’s located in Harbor East in Baltimore. So Saturday, January 10, at 830 is a free boot camp, okay? And then, oh, so this is the first time I’m actually saying this on a public platform. But Saturday, April the 18th, I am hosting my inaugural in our Why did I say the word my first we going to go with that, my first melon in motion event. So April is African American Women’s physical fitness month. For those of you guys who don’t know, it’s April every year. So melon in motion is a wellness event that is going to have four different movement segments led by black women in the fitness industry, from Pilates, yoga, core training and then mobility. Okay, so it’s a whole event centered around wellness. It’s for everyone, but to bring awareness to the you know, the theme of the month, all of this segments will be led by black women in fitness. So I’m so excited that
Desiree Clemons
so excited for you. Yes, I have one more March. 27 the coasting.
Tyneka Pack
How you going to remember, remember my events? I love that. I love
Desiree Clemons
because I’m in the dog tap that you, if you’re not, you need to get tapped in with Tony.
Tyneka Pack
Yeah, she tapped in. Lord her mercy. I love that, though. Yes. So March, oh yes. So end of March, the 27th I’m hosting, co hosting our third HR retreat in the Baltimore area. So myself and one of my HR partners, Sierra, with cwchr, we are co hosting an HR retreat that is going to be yes for HR professionals, but anybody in senior leadership who is looking for career growth, overall wellness and just HR strategy. So this our third one. So I’m very, very excited about
Desiree Clemons
that one too. That’s exciting. So I’m tapped in. But where can the people tap in with you? Where can they find you and connect you? On social media? IG, on on LinkedIn. Let the people know. Yes.
Tyneka Pack
So LinkedIn is just tinycapac, t, y, N, E, K, a, pack, P, C, K, um, Instagram. My personal page is T, Denise. So the letter T, Denise with two is for impact fitness is just impact underscore Fitness on Instagram and impact Fitness on LinkedIn. Perfect.
Desiree Clemons
So I’m gonna go ahead and close. I like to thank my guest, time for joining us today. Taika, thank you for sharing your story, your insights and your vision for helping women reclaim their health and confidence. That brings us to the end of another episode of the health disparities podcast from movement is life. I’m Desiree Clemens, until next time, be safe and be well.